Problematizing Fit and Survival: Transforming the Law of Requisite Variety Through Complexity Misalignment

Abstract

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Team Collective Intelligence in Dynamically Complex Projects—A Shipbuilding Case

“…Ligthart et al (2016) found that time pressure disabled flexibility. Agency plays a crucial role in the complexity (Poulis & Poulis, 2016) of dynamic projectsthat is, project teams play a role in staging their own issues. Figure 2 depicts how the project team was able to solve a wide range of issues in a dynamically complex project by the use of five processes.…”

Embracing Bewilderment: Responding to Technological Disruption in Heterogeneous Market Environments

“…However, despite the pervasiveness of this recommendation, many firms are unsuccessful in responding to disruption (Christensen et al, ; Fuentelsaz et al, ; King and Baatartogtokh, ; Uzunca, ) raising the question of the validity, feasibility, or boundaries of such an internal fit perspective. The universality of the strategic alignment perspective has recently been challenged by the idea that consistency can become less viable when firms face diverse contingencies and conflicting requirements (Le Breton‐Miller and Miller, ; Poulis and Poulis, ; Smith, ). In this opposing perspective, it is argued that organizations are able to thrive by embracing misalignment between internal components (Gulati and Puranam, ) and promoting inconsistent mentalities and structures (Smith et al, ).…”

“…Second, we add to the recent debates over whether internal alignment has a universal value as a lever for effective strategic change (Le Breton‐Miller and Miller, ; Poulis and Poulis, ; Smith et al, ). In particular, we propose market heterogeneity as a potential a boundary condition for whether focusing on internal fit may constitute an effective response to disruption.…”

International Business as Disciplinary Tautology: An Ontological Perspective

“…seePoulis & Poulis, 2016 for a critique).The whole discussion of fit in IB is infused with assumptions of voluntary judgment and unilateral action by cognitively acute managers. Though these assumptions create the necessary parsimony for theorizing, they are unrealistic in the-unanimously acknowledged as complex-IB environment.…”